Ecuadorian freight forwarders are fighting against a “great commercial risk” presented by what they call the “monopolization” of the shipping sector and the unregulated rates of detention or demurrage of containers.
Speaking to The Loadstar at the Fiata World Congress, the president of the Latin American shipping association Alacat, Galo Molina Aguilar, stated that they were “taking advantage” of the cargo agents.
“Not only do maritime lines take advantage of carriers by charging fees for stopping or delaying containers, but they do not invoice these rates separately,” said Mr. Aguilar.
It also states that these rates are rarely detailed in the invoices of carriers, while the reduction in the number of lines has left the lines with fewer incentives to invest in customer service.
“Consolidation among carriers has only exacerbated this problem by creating a monopoly, which is creating significant commercial risk”
The rates of delays are leveraged by containerized lines when the containers are kept for longer than agreed upon under contracts with the senders. Mr. Aguilar said he had “no problem” with this practice, noting that the detention was not the carrier’s fault but rather a customs problem, that is, the inefficiency of a country’s customs and logistics processes.
“The problem is the lack of regulation on how these fees are applied and billed; the lack of limits on what they can charge for detention,” he continued.
“They are exploiting problems, and this exploitation finally affects customers as the costs of the goods that are shipped increase.”
According to Mr. Aguilar, the Ecuadorian government has agreed to take action on the issue and is pushing legislation to regulate these costs.
He also added that the international association of cargo agents, Fiata was working with Alacat on the recommendations it would share with other governments on the best way to limit these costs.
“We are satisfied with the actions of the Ecuadorian government to modify these practices of transporters, but more are required,” said Aguilar, who heads cargo agent Planet Cargo. “This has to happen, it must be resolved, at a global level, it can not only happen at a regional level if you want to have some hope in the work.”
The US Federal Maritime Commission UU It is also conducting an in-depth investigation into the delay and detention rates applied in the US. UU Following a series of complaints from shippers and freight forwarders.
On the other hand, it is also known that Cargo Agents with beneficial container free days conditions offer final customers less free days, thus generating a margin of operations, that is, their margin is covered by cost overruns that the final client assumes.
